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Operation Impending Dusk
Operation Impending Dusk 'was a campaign initiated by the Great Empire in the immediate aftermath of the destruction of Kanunghlekin, the event which ended the Second Norzic-Imperial War. The main goal of the endeavour was to secure the safety of the Imperial nation by eliminating Heartland's abilities to produce Weapons of Mass Destruction, namely Supernuclear devices. The main actions of the operation consisted of major assaults into Heartlandian territory, and the systematic destruction of installations related to their nuclear program. The progression of the campaign - specifically the practice of gathering intelligence at each priority site that revealed subsequent targets for raiding by the Imperials earned the conflict the nickname of '"The Breadcrumb War", 'and required considerable cooperation between military braches due to the strained resources as a result of attrition from the last few offensives. The short campaign was incredibly costly for the Imperials, who lost several Marine and Army divisions in their entirety, in addition to their North Sea Fleet. Several formations responsible for offensives on the mainland were also badly mauled in the fighting, and manpower shortages along the line meant the nation was extremely vulnerable to invasion in the aftermath of the campaign. However, the Imperials ultimately succeeded in eliminating Heartland's nuclear capacity, and with all three opposing superpowers severely depleted in the most destructive conflicts since the ERA 09-55 War, the continent settled into an uneasy ceasefire. Background The twenty years leading up to Impending Dusk had left the military forces of three opposing superpowers on the brink of crisis. In the west, the massive casualties the Great Empire suffered in their two consecutive conflicts in the Zician theatre - including significant to the pride of the Imperial nation, the Channel Fleet - had lead to a severe shortage of personnel, and forced them to withdraw from the region entirely. In the east, Operation Stranglehold, the Arctika Offensive, and the Pocket War had all resulted in either defeat or stalemate for the United Republic. This whittling down of their forces was punctuated by the supernuclear attack on their capital, which destroyed the bulk of the country's reserves, and rendered huge swathes of their territory uninhabitable, pushing the western frontline eastwards by several hundred miles. Heartland, who shared similar losses to the United Forces during their clashes leading up to Operation Dusk's end, had also been savaged in its own failed campaign against North Zicia, with the ground forces left in an extremely precarious situation. Heartland, however, had the unique advantage of being the only nation to successfully develop Weapons of Mass Destruction, which had been deployed against their enemies in Solomon in ERA 10-20, and in Kanunghlekin in ERA 10-26. Production of the weapons after the Solomon attack had been slowed due problems in the extraction and manufacture of nuclear materials, and had been denied funding from the government due to the unpredicability of the bomb - the "margin of error" of the blast effect had resulted in a significant number of Heartlandian troops were caught in the Solomon blast and wiped out, and the radioactive fallout that had plagued the United Republic had also spread into Heartlandian territories. Despite this, after enormous losses elsewhere meant that the security of the nation was threatened, priorities shifted to the war-winning potential of the supernuclear program. In the years leading up to the bombing of Kanunglekin, Heartland had spent considerable effort in the refinement of the production process - testing had shown the blast radius to be more predictable now, and the effects of the fallout to be less severe. Mining facilities across the country had began to turn out usable nuclear material for the program, and the manufacturing process was streamlined and made more effecient. Mass production of precise supernuclear weapons was now a very real possibility. However, Heartland had made every effort to conseal the nature and scale of its weapons program from its enemies, by limiting production, and containing research and manufacture to secret bases hidded throughout the continent. It was feared that if Heartland rushed haphazardly into deploying its weapons against its enemies, an alliance would form between the Great Empire and the United Forces who would then swiftly crush the weakened nation. The plan was to stockpile nuclear weapons in secret before unleashing them on the world in a devastating continent-wide strike, destroying the two opposing superpowers before they had a chance to cooperate. The situation at Kanunghlekin changed everything. The North Zician government had somehow obtained a supernuclear bomb from Heartland, and had used it in a suicidal gambit to thwart the Imperial-Souzic invasion. With its war-winning weapon exposed prematurely, Heartland had no choice but to step up production of weapons in a desperate bid to repel the impending invasion. Meanwhile the Great Empire, anticipating further strikes, began a desperate intelligence effort to reveal the scope of Heartland's capacity to produce weapons, and hastily prepared plans on how to neutrailize the threat to the nation. After a month of effort, the Imperials learned that Heartland was beginning the mass production and stockpiling of nuclear devices within secret facilities. The location of these bases, being one of the most closely-guarded secrets of Heartland, were completely unknown to the Imperial agents - it wasn't even clear if the installations were within Heartlandian territory. While the chances of revealing the bases at all were slim, revealing them and destroying them before Heartland reached its production goals and wiped out the Great Empire seemed impossible. The only other option was a final, potentially-fatal all out assault on Heartland; with both countries armies severely depleted, the plan would result in total defeat for one side of the other. With no other option, arrangement began for such a final, suicidal offensive. Yet, these plans were put on hold after help from an almost unthinkable place - the United Republic. Hauwoern Peak Assault The Great Empire and the United Republic had been enemies for their entire history - the calendar date of ERA 00-00 commemorates their meeting and immediate hostility. Their mutual hatred had cost the lives of hundreds of millions in their fruitless, millenia-long struggle against one another. The act of working together, even in the face of their own destruction, was deemed unthinkable. Despite this, on the 1st of December ERA 10-26, communication channels between the two countries were opened, briefly, when the United Republic intelligence servies shared everything they knew on Heartland's supernuclear program. Mainland Raids Mirror rock and the Battle of the North Sea White Giant Odyssey Aftermath Major Battles *'December 24th ERA 10-26 - Attack on Hauwoern Peak In the aftermath of the Fall of Kanunghlekin, Imperial special forces launch a raid on a Heartlandian military prison in the Arctika mountain range, with the intent of securing HVTs related to the nation's supernuclear program. Despite setbacks, the operation proceeds generally as planned, with the Imperials extracting with several valuable prisoners. *'5st-13th February ERA 10-27 - Archer's Landing' An Imperial spearhead punches through Heartland's south-western border before seizing an underground supernuclear weapons development facility and testing site, disguised as an abandoned factory. The Land Forces hold the outpost against increasingly fierce counterattacks, keeping a corridor open to allow research materials to be either airlifted out or destroyed. After a week of fighting the facility is encircled, and the remaining defenders are annihilated. *'29th February-8th March ERA 10-27 - Supernuclear Dawn' A secret Heartlandian research installation in an isolated northern valley is targeted by a massive Imperial armoured assault. Major casualties are inflicted in the onslaught, but the Imperials succeed in entering the base, capturing important personnel and materials. *'20th March ERA 10-27 - Site Poice' After discovering supernuclear assets are being moved from the mainland, an Imperial amphibious landing takes place on Mirror Rock, with the target being the capture of a vital enemy research base. The marines accomplish their mission tasks, and recover data critical to the enemy's supernuclear agenda. Regardless, the Marine ground forces, as well as naval elements assigned to defend them, take heavy losses. *'29-31th March ERA 10-27 - A Cold War' With the intent to stop Heartland's ability to use WMDs once and for all, a major amphibious operation is undertaken, far north of the mainland, on a segment of the Grand Barrier Glacier. Imperial Marines and land forces push inland under heavy fire, securing a power station and research outpost on a ridge to the south of their target, and gaining a foothold on the island. The Imperial's north sea fleet, assigned almost in its entirety in support of the operation, is wiped out in the fighting. On land, both sides accrue horrendous losses as the Marines advance on the ultimate objective of the campaign. *'1st April ERA 10-27 - The Odyssey' White Giant, a massive installation built into a nameless mountain range of the Grand Barrier Glacier, is attacked by the remnants of the Imperial amphibious task force in the early hours of the first of April. Believed to house the pinnacle of Heartland's ambitions of mass destruction, the heavily defended site is breached by Imperial troops. Much of the course of the battle is unknown, as at the crack of dawn, the area was obliterated by a yet-unprecedented supernuclear detonation, killing all eyewitnesses to the battle. This dramatic event marked the end of the campaign, as well as the nuclear threat against the Great Empire and the rest of the world.